press release School Parcel Taxes: Making it Easier to Pass Them Won’t Necessarily Broaden Their Use Sep 16, 2013
Report California’s English Learner Students By Laura Hill Sep 6, 2012 English Learner (EL) students in California’s schools are numerous and diverse, and they lag behind their native-English-speaking peers. Closing the achievement gap for EL students has been a long-standing goal for California educators, and there are some signs of success. Now that EL funding and curriculum issues are receiving a fresh level of scrutiny from decisionmakers in Sacramento, it is important to assess our understanding of this diverse group, highlight the opportunities to improve policies around demonstrating mastery of English, calibrate funding formulas involving EL students, and implement new curriculum standards thoughtfully.
press release Efforts to Help Struggling Students Pass Exit Exam Are Too Little, Too Late Jun 26, 2012
Report Predicting Success, Preventing Failure: An Investigation of the California High School Exit Exam By Julian Betts, Andrew C. Zau Jun 10, 2008 Many educators, parents, and policymakers continue to call for reforms to the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), citing concern about the 10 percent of California students who do not graduate because of their failure to pass the test. By law, current funding for tutoring those at risk of failing the CAHSEE is targeted at those in grade 12 and beyond. But is this the best use of limited resources? The authors suggest that earlier interventions are possible and are likely to be more effective. Using the San Diego Unified School District as a test case, they are able to predict passage of the CAHSEE as early as grade 4. Based on these findings, the authors offer new approaches to funding CAHSEE-related programs.
